The so-called “beacon technology” is based on a transmitter-receiver system. A “beacon” (in German: “Leuchtfeuer” or also “Bake” or “Peilsender”) is a small, mostly battery-operated transmitter emitting a signal in (definable) time intervals mostly on the Bluetooth low energy standard. The radio signal of each beacon is characterized by a unique identification number (so-called UUID). Beacons can be used to impart a digital identification to objects and sites. Objects (at which a beacon is installed) and sites (at which a beacon is installed e.g. at a wall) can be identified by terminals (e.g. smart devices) in the signal field of the beacon in this manner.
Beacons can be used for identification of a site or for locating. By placing one or more beacons in a building area, thus, a type of radio-based raster arises, in which a smart device can locate itself via the BLE (Bluetooth low energy) interface as well as corresponding algorithms. Therein, the individual identification numbers of the installed beacons give an identifier to a site, by which a smart device can approximately determine the position (basic transmitting area of the beacon can be determined). Algorithms on the smart device can improve the position accuracy e.g. via signal strengths. Therein, it is required that the smart device can access information in a data storage (e.g. on a Cloud server) (e.g. identification number and mapping). If a terminal (for example smart device) gets into the range of a transmitter, it can detect the identification number and for example determine the site via server query. Therein, the locating algorithms access the received signal strength of the beacons in the ambit among other things, in particular as an indicator for the distance to the respective beacon.
The present invention is based on the basic invention to install beacons in light engineering/lighting technique. Therein, the advantage is in particular utilized that a light installation offers a permanent energy access to provide the beacon with energy. Therefrom, the advantage in turn arises that the battery of the beacon does not have to be exchanged and thus corresponding life cycle costs and processes, respectively, can be saved. Moreover, parameterizations of the beacon with higher energy consumption can also be adjusted without the lifetime of the beacon being reduced. Installation processes of beacons and light engineering can additionally be unified. A further advantage is a defined locking position of a beacon transmitter, which is well protected from manipulation. Thus, a clear and secure identifier can be imparted to a site.
The following enumeration offers an overview of beacons in light engineering:                using the energy supply of the light installation instead of a battery to reduce the life cycle costs of the beacon;        using the energy supply of the light installation to adapt the transmitting parameters to the service and not to the available residual energy or the parameters of the battery (for example, frequent transmitting cycles generate high accuracy of the services, but also higher energy consumption);        exchange of the battery of conventional beacons carries risks (e.g. with regard to errors in the handling);        avoiding unavailability of the services by an uninterruptible energy supply of the beacon;        installation site below the ceiling is ideal for the signal propagation of the beacon;        installation site below the ceiling makes the overall system more robust against disturbances/shadings by objects at the level of the corridor level in contrast to an installation of the beacon itself at the level of the corridor level;        beacon is protected from manipulation/foreign access (inadvertent/malicious);        lighting and services (e.g. locating services) are offered as an overall system “from one source” (i.e. system provider is also service provider);        possibility of using the secure communication network of the light installation, e.g. to configure the beacon or link beacons with each other;        unification of the installation processes of beacons and light installation;        possibility of coupling to further system elements of the peripheral building infrastructure via the communication network of the light installation, e.g. elements of the safety technology;        optically attractive system since the beacon can be non-visibly accommodated in the light installation.        
A beacon can be arranged in or at an electrical lighting device. The beacon communicates with a terminal (e.g. smart device). Therein, the beacon is optionally connected to further beacons or to infrastructure elements via a communication link.
Within an area, humans and apparatuses optionally have the challenge to orient themselves, to navigate and to find and use other local digital services (e.g. apps or app functions, Google Maps, Lightify light control). The light installation with integrated beacon in an area becomes a locating or orientation system for these potentials of use. With the self-location of the terminal realizable thereby, services can now be provided such as for instance navigation or the provision of site-specific information.
Heretofore, each beacon had to be individually configured depending on the installation position to ensure an optimum signal coverage. Important influencing variables are for example the distance to the ceiling (suspended ceiling) and to the ground. In current solutions, the configuration is associated with high manual effort (mostly during the installation) and has to be separately performed for each beacon. A reconfiguration is usually even more expensive.
Variations of organic and water-rich objects, respectively, metals or electromagnetic field variations in the environment of the beacon have crucial effects (mostly negative) on the quality of the service. Moreover, the configuration of the room, in which the beacon lamps are installed, possibly varies optionally during the life cycle of the lamp. A further challenge is in that a different quality of the signal/service can be desired in different circumstances. However, an automatic adaptation of the parameters, which influence the quality, is not trivial and mostly associated with high latency.
Up to now, so-called Bluetooth smart sensors of the company Blukii are known. Moreover, in the book of H. F. Rashvand et al.: “Distributed Sensor Systems”, published online: Feb. 27, 2012, ISBN: 9780470661246, distributed sensor systems in practical applications are described.
The object of the present invention is in allowing the configuration of a beacon in or at a lighting device for a specific site with less effort.